The present invention relates to a method of removing free, unbound water from cooked meat.
In the manufacture of cooked ham which is sliced and gas packed, one major problem is free water leakage. Meat proteins are denatured during heat treatment and this causes the water-holding capacity of the meat to decrease. Thus, a cooked ham can never bind or immobilise all the water in the product before heating, and if this free water is not allowed to escape before packaging, it appears as visible drip in the packages. When the drip exceeds about 0.3% of the weight of the product (depending on the package size and measuring method), the visual quality of the product is severely reduced.
In spite of attempts to increase the water holding capacity of ham, which include such factors as the use of high quality raw materials (pH 5.7 to 6.1), good salt distribution, efficient tumbling and optimum thermal treatment, the drip problem is not necessarily reduced. It is possible to add polyphosphates, citrate, proteins, or carbohydrates to the injection brine to improve the water holding capacity of the products, but such components are either not permitted by food legislation in many countries or they are not desired in high quality, pure meat products.